A Jewelry Bag - and More Donated Bracelets

My mother is a seamstress.  She will vehemently refute that statement ... but she is.  When she relocated from her home in Florida and moved in with me almost two years ago, I happily moved what I call my jewelry studio that was located in a spare bedroom to my basement and together we created for her an awesome sewing room.  And this is where she spends most of her time.

 

Although she can sew most anything, she prefers to quilt and create craft items.  Most recently, she was surfing the net and found a "pattern of sorts" for a hanging jewelry bag.  Well, two of my nieces serve as my jewelry guinea pigs and therefore have acquired LOTS of jewelry.  They both have very large, very nice jewelry boxes.  And they are overflowing!  So this is what Grandma made for them:

 

Click on all pictures for larger view

 

 

I have seen these in magazines - they are awesome!  The two-sided jewelry bag has tons of pockets, which she created with a heavy plastic - see through!  She tailored the pattern so that one side (on the right of the picture above) has a place at the top to attach necklaces, which hang from a self-made tab and "fall" into the pocket below - and the finished product has different size pockets to accommodate various sized jewelry.  This hangs from a heavy, wooden hanger in the closet.  I just thought this was the coolest thing ever and had to share!

 

The rest of this post contains more images of the some of the 75 bracelets that I have made and donated to the Global Genes/Rare Project Organization for their Gala to be held next month.

 

Beautiful, softly swirled lampwork beads by Sue Kennedy / Sue Beads

Lampwork Beads by Sue Kennedy / Sue Beads - the flecks of color are amazing!  I combined these beads with two enameled beads by Sally Russick

Lampwork Beads by Sue Kennedy / Sue Beads - this is actually one of my favorite bracelets - love these beads!

Lampwork Beads by Sue Kennedy / Sue Beads - these have beautiful color variations, including pops of yellow!

Lampwork Beads by Sue Kennedy / Sue Beads, and one man-made sea glass bead, and handmade clasp.

Lampwork beads by Donna Millard, and sterling silver

Two different sets of lampwork beads by Sue Kennedy / Sue Beads

Lesley Watt sent me a link to this Etsy seller - Rob Johnson of Pebble Dreams - these lampwork beads - tiny spacer beads -  worked perfectly for this design - thank you Lesley!!

Man-made sea glass beads, Czech glass, and sterling silver

Many thanks to the artisans - especially my main lampwork supplier, Sue Kennedy - for creating these gorgeous beads!  Please visit the Global Genes Organization for more information about this very worthy cause!

 

And, thank  you for stopping by!  Your comments are truly appreciated!  :)

 

More Donated Bracelets!

My photo editing and collage-creating continues....Here are some more pictures of the bracelets I made and donated for the Global Genes / Rare Project Organization's Gala, to be held in September...

 

 

Click on the pictures for a larger view

LOVE it when Sue Kennedy sent me Sugared Beads!  These have great texture!

These blue beads by Sue Kennedy are the coolest color!

Blue AND Purple beads (my favorite color combo)  by Sue Kennedy combined with man-made sea glass.  The clear, transparent glass, with the swirled colors is so pretty!

Baby blue!  I combined these swirled, baby blue lampwork beads by Sue Kennedy with 3 enameled beads from Sally Russick that I had in my stash

Pretty swirled lampwork beads - with just the right amount of purple - by Sue Kennedy, combined with man-made sea glass beads in sweet teal

These blue beads by Sue Kennedy have a pop of yellow - love these!

I combined Sue Kennedy's pale green eggs with a larger egg bead by Kelly Wenzel, which I had in my stash.  Kelly has not been making beads lately, as she has been focusing her attention on her other love, photography.  I am lucky I saved this beauty! I added a tiny, disc bead in the same color as the large egg as part of the charm.

Lovely transparent blue beads by Donna Millard - the swirls of black really make these beads pop.

All of these beads are hand-made sea glass

Same bead color - different shapes, by Sue Kennedy.  I really, really love these beads!  I combined these with a Bali silver lentil.  No matter how hard I try, the silver lentil picks up a red tone in pictures only...ah, the joy of picture taking!

So far, in three consecutive blog posts, I have shown 25 bracelets...which means I have 50 left to "reveal".  I hope you are not bored! 

I want to thank Sue again for making such lovely beads, which made my bracelet-making endeavor effortless! :)  If you have not done so already, please click on the link below to find out how you can donate a bracelet to this wonderful cause!

I love to read comments, so please leave one if you are so inclined!  Thanks for stopping by!

75 Donated Bracelets....Continued!

Short post today - more like a picture show-  as I have to take my Mom to some doctor and dentist appointments.  But, I wanted to share a few more pictures of the bracelets that I have donated for the September 27th Gala to be held by the Global Genes / Rare Project Organization....

Click on pictures for a larger view

These gorgeous beads are from Maryse Fritzch-Thillens of Glass Bead Art.

This set of beads from Sue Kennedy / Sue Beads have the most beautiful hues of blue!

I love it when I can combine beads of the same palette from different artists!  This bracelet has beads from Sue Kennedy / Sue Beads and Maryse Fritzch-Thillens of Glass Bead Art

Pale blue lampwork rounds by Sue Kennedy - they look like they have been dredged in fairy dust, don't they?  I love these beads!

Sue Kennedy introduced a new bead style that she calls "Cameo Beads" - aren't they fantastic!  I paired them with some snow white lampwork beads by Maryse Fritzch-Thillens of Glass Bead Art

Blue/Black lampwork by Sue Kennedy of Sue Beads , Black Lampwork by Beads of Passion, with a brass headpin by Lesley Watt / THEAtoo

I altered a Brass Bracelet from Donna Millard, by adding a length of chain to make this bracelet adjustable - then I wrapped tons of turquoise, and added a HOPE charm to a Lesley Watt / THEAtoo Brass headpin.

 

Please visit the link below to find out more about the 7000 Bracelets for Hope Campaign, or to donate a bracelet of your own.  And also, please visit the shops of these wonderful artisans!!!

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by today!





75 Donated Bracelets - Check!

If you have read any of my past blog posts, you'll remember that I committed to creating 75 bracelets to be donated at the annual Rare Project Organizations Gala, to be held on September 27th.  (If you would like to read my original post, click here).  

I made each bracelet adjustable by attaching a length of chain to one end of the bracelet.  Each bracelet also contains an inspirational charm, ("hope", "faith", or "believe").  It is my hope that the wearer of the bracelet is prompted to remember that they are not alone, and someone out there (me!) is sending prayers to help them get through their roughest days.

 

Picture taking, well, actually, it's the editing, is not my favorite thing to do.  So, I will use this space to show you a few bracelets at a time. 

 

(Click on the images for a larger view)

 

 

Lampwork Beads by Susan Kennedy and Bronze Bracelet Connector by Lesley Watt 

Lampwork nuggets by Maryse Fritzsch-Thillens - the colors of these beads are amazing

 



Lampwork beads by Susan Kennedy I love the veining she created in the beads!

Two sets of lampwork beads (LOVE!) by Susan Kennedy

Turquoise rounds and Inspirational Bronze Bracelet Connector - by Lesley Watt

Gold filled findings, chain, etc. and Peeled Paint Polymer beads by Jeannie Dukic

One of just a few bracelets with Swarovski Crystals

Lampwork Beads by Susan Kennedy (these are gorgeous in person!)

The majority of the artisan beads were made by Sue - 50 sets of lampwork beads!  I HAD A BLAST each time I went to my mail box to find more beads!!  At first I thought I would be limited by the design (adjustable, which meant no toggle clasps or other cool clasps), but I made many of the clasps myself, or used a lobster clasp.  BUT THE BEADS...the gorgeous beads....they kept me going and I was NEVER BORED!  Every time I would finish a bracelet, it would become my new favorite!

 

Donations to the 7000 Bracelets for Hope Campaign are ALWAYS appreciated and welcomed.  If you would like to learn more about the organization, or donate a bracelet of your own, please clink on the link below.

 

 

I will be posting more pictures in the weeks to follow.  Thank you so much for stopping by!

Where Have I Been??????

I really have not posted much lately - I have been incredibly busy!  I finally finished creating my 75 Bracelets for the Rare Organization!  Most of the bracelets feature lampwork beads from the extremely talented Sue Kennedy of Sue Beads, though I have used a multitude of artisan beads and components that I have hoarded over the years!  I have only photographed 45 of the 75 bracelets today (my camera battery went low, so must continue photographing in the day or so!)

I took my Mom (who has lived with me since November 2010) to Florida this past week for a quick, 5 day visit with one of my brother's and his wife, who live in Clearwater/St. Petersburg, and to visit with her old friends whom she has not seen in a long, long time.  No disrespect to my brother, sister-in-law, or my Mom's friends, but the highlight of my trip was meeting this little guy:

This is Elliot - OMG the cutest, sweetest, most adorable little fella I have ever laid my eyes on!!!  My brother and his wife lost their Jack Russel Terrier - named Biggie Smalls (I did not name him!) to cancer this past June.  They adopted Elliot - an approximately 2 year old rescue about a month later.  This little guy had an unhappy first 2 years - fostered, the pound, etc. The tide has certainly turned for him...for the better!!!  I miss him so very much! 

It was nice catching up with family and friends - and to put faces to names of my mother's friends- most of which she has been talking about for years!

In between, I have managed to make a few pieces of jewelry:

click on any of the images for a larger view

Raku Beads - Elements Pottery - these beads are gorgeous!

Bracelet made using Lesley Watt's Tutorial - I felt it was befitting to use her gorgeous bronze button, too!

Clay! - Marla's Mud, Marsha Neal, Lesley Watt Toggle

Another bracelet using Lesley Watt's tutorial - and her button, of course!

Okay...I am addicted to this bracelet design!  This time, I used a handmade lampwork button by Unicorne, which perfectly matched these Czech Glass beads.

Gorgeous lampwork beads by Donna Millard, Bead Caps by Metal Me This, and Bronze Headpin by....you guessed it...Lesley Watt!

I banged on some heavy gauge copper and attached these absolutely gorgeous lampwork beads by Radiant Mind.  The texture on these beads (nuggets) is amazing!

I also banged on some silver, too!

Had these silver disks FOR.EVER....I like them with the tiny lampwork beads by Radiant Mind.

I would like to thank all of the artisans for creating these beautiful handmade components - without their creativity....where would I be now?  I shudder to even think about that!

I have actually made TONS more jewelry...but that will have to wait for another post!

Thank you so much for stopping by my little world!  Have a great day!